The use of the Internet as a communication medium between two or more parties is a well-known phenomenon. While e-mail is the best known of the Internet communication technologies, it is certainly not the only communication technology known. Other examples include video communication, facsimile transmission and Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication.
In general, communication over the Internet involves the use of a browser and some sort of information resource. In the case of websites, a user may enter an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a website into his browser and receive information downloaded from the website.
In response to entry of the IP address of the website, the browser may send a query to the website. The server of the website, in turn, analyzes the query, retrieves the website IP address and the address of the originating browser. With the IP address of the website, the server may retrieve webpages from the website. With the IP address of the originating browser, the server may send the retrieved webpages to the originating browser.
In the case of VoIP, a voice conversion software module is used in conjunction with the browser. In effect, the VoIP module uses the browser as a voice communication channel between the user of the browser and a second user's browser at a second location. One difference between the use of a VoIP module and conventional browser operation is that the VoIP module continuously sends and receives voice packets while the browser ordinarily only sends packets under control of the user.
In order to set up a VoIP connection, one party to a conversation activates the VoIP module and enters an IP address of the other party through an interactive window. In response, the VoIP module forms a connection with a VoIP module of the other party to the conversation and the exchange of voice information begins.
E-mail, Video communication and facsimile transmissions occur through substantially similar methods. In each case, a software module works in conjunction with a user's browser to provide the functionality of the particular system in use. While such systems work relatively well, they are dependent upon the ability of the receiving party's browser to identify and process the information accordingly.
The Internet is becoming an increasingly more important medium of commerce. However, because of the diversity of software used to process Internet messages, organizations are often not equipped to process any more than one type of Internet communication at a time. Accordingly, a need exists for a method that allows an organization to process Internet messages under any of a number of different formats.